Grieving Sonoma father recounts shooting

<p>Standing outside his bullet-riddled Sonoma house on Sunday, disheveled with grief and shock, John Von Dohlen described the tragic events that led sheriff's deputies to fatally shoot his suicidal son.</p><p>Von Dohlen, a longtime grocery store manager and Boy Scout leader in Sonoma County, also expressed outrage that immediately following the shooting Saturday afternoon, he was forcefully removed from the scene, handcuffed, and put in the back of a squad car away from his family and dying son.</p><p>"I couldn't even hold my son and say a final goodbye," Von Dohlen said. "I couldn't even tell my wife what happened."</p><p>Sonoma County sheriff's deputies arrived at the Von Dohlen home at 12:25 p.m. after Von Dohlen, 66, called 911 to report that his son, Craig, 37, was threatening to kill him and then commit suicide with a .22-caliber rifle, according to an initial sheriff's report.</p><p>Excerpts from the 911 call released in the report paint a chaotic and explosive scene:</p><p>"Dad, you've got like 50 seconds and I will blow your head off, and then they will kill me," said a voice identified by the sheriff's department as Craig Von Dohlen. "I'm not going to kill anybody, but I'm gonna shoot cops."</p><p>He made his intent to die apparent: "I'm not going to shoot myself, they're going to have to kill me."</p><p>Deputies gathered at the end of the gravel driveway on Napa Road about 10 minutes after receiving the 911 call, according to the report. An ambulance was staged nearby.</p><p>The four deputies took cover behind a hedge at the end of the driveway, John Von Dohlen said.</p><p>Von Dohlen said Sunday he shouted that his son was in the back yard and the deputies should come and help, but the officers remained at the end of the driveway. His son then emerged from the front door with rifle in hand and charged at the deputies positioned about 30 yards away.</p><p>The deputies can be heard shouting commands at Craig Von Dohlen on the 911 recording, according to the sheriff's report.</p><p>John Von Dohlen said he tried unsuccessfully to intercept and stop his son from charging the deputies.</p><p>Officers opened fire, unleashing a barrage of bullets that peppered the front of the house and sent Craig Von Dohlen crashing to the ground only about 10 yards from the deputies.</p><p>John Von Dohlen said deputies continued to fire after his son collapsed.</p><p>"I don't know how I didn't get hit," Von Dohlen said. "I was chasing him when they started shooting."</p><p>Bullets pierced the front of the house, which was unoccupied. One bullet passed through the exterior wall, then through an interior family room wall, and lodged in a bedroom closet wall.</p><p>Craig Von Dohlen's 15-year-old son, Kyle, had left about 30 minutes before the shooting after his father flew into a suicidal rage, the older Von Dohlen said.</p><p>"We don't know what set him off, if he received a phone call or some bad news," Von Dohlen said. "Something just snapped in him."</p><p>He was not on drugs and did not take medication for any mental illnesses, Von Dohlen said. However, an excerpt of the 911 tape quoted Von Dohlen as saying his son was "high on drugs," according to the sheriff's report.</p><p>Craig Von Dohlen had lived with his parents almost continuously since graduating from Sonoma Valley High School, his father said.</p><p>A neighbor described him as "kind of an introvert, quiet and reserved but a pleasant person. He did odd jobs for us and was always a very, very hard worker."</p><p>Whatever set him off that morning, Craig Von Dohlen appeared bent on a suicidal path.</p><p>"He wanted to die for some reason," his father said. "He was waiting for (the deputies) to come so he could charge them."</p><p>The whole episode lasted only about 30 minutes, John Von Dohlen said. He called 911 shortly after noticing his son walking along the side of the house in a red-faced rage with the rifle in his hand.</p><p>Two deputies and two officers from the Sonoma police force, which is staffed by the sheriff's department, were involved in the shooting. The four deputies, who were not identified, were placed on administrative leave, which is routine in officer-involved shootings.</p><p>Santa Rosa police and the District Attorney's Office are conducting an investigation in accordance with Sonoma County's protocol for such shootings.</p><p>Von Dohlen said that immediately after the shooting, officers prevented him from approaching his son, who lay dying on the driveway.</p><p>"To deny me the right to hold my son while he was dying showed me total disrespect," Von Dohlen said.</p><p>A spokeswoman for the Santa Rosa Police Department said deputies likely were securing the weapon and keeping the path clear for medical personnel who were staged nearby.</p><p>"I can understand the father wanted to be close to his son," Sgt. Lisa Banayat said. "But when they loaded him into the ambulance, he was not deceased . . . the paramedics needed to have access."</p><p>Craig Von Dohlen was pronounced dead after arriving at Sonoma Valley Hospital, according to the sheriff's report. But a neighbor said the ambulance did not speed off after Von Dohlen was loaded in, giving her the impression he was already presumed dead.</p><p>While medical personnel were attending to Von Dohlen in the driveway, John Von Dohlen said he began cursing and asking officers how many times they shot his son. He wanted to know why they didn't try to use a Taser on him.</p><p>"I was in a daze," he said. "I was hurting real bad."</p><p>Then, Von Dohlen said, an officer approached him, twisted his arm behind his back and led him to a squad car, where he was handcuffed and locked inside.</p><p>"He threatened me twice that he was going to break my arm," Von Dohlen said.</p><p>He said he was kept away from his wife, son and other family members for the next several hours.</p><p>"They wouldn't even tell me if Craig was alive or dead," he said. "I couldn't talk to my wife. I couldn't hug her. I couldn't do anything."</p><p>Von Dohlen said he plans to file a complaint against the officer who handcuffed him.</p><p>Banayat said the investigation is ongoing and information about why Von Dohlen was handcuffed was not available Sunday.</p><p>Craig Von Dohlen is the fourth person to be fatally shot by North Coast law enforcement officials this year and the fifth to die in an officer-involved incident this year.</p><p>Most recently, 52-year-old Guy James Fernandez died after being subdued with a stun gun by Rohnert Park public safety officers Nov. 9. He was believed to have been under the influence of methamphetamine.</p><p>Of those shot by firearms, two were believed to be suicidal or mentally ill.</p><p>In January, 24-year-old mental health patient Jesse Hamilton was shot and killed by Santa Rosa police as he approached them with a large kitchen knife.</p><p>In March, 31-year-old Heather Billings was shot and killed by Rohnert Park officers when she refused to drop a straight-edge razor blade she was carrying as she approached officers.</p><p>In July, 63-year-old David Vestal was shot and killed by a Clearlake police officer after he leveled a shotgun at officers responding to a fight at the mobile home park where he lived.</p><p>Since 2000, 25 people in Sonoma County have died in officer-involved incidents, 23 of them from gunshot wounds. The remaining two were shot with stun guns.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>